Day 10 June 17 Reestablishing Family Connections in Missoula

Route: Columbus, Montana to Missoula, Montana

GPS Tracks for the trip are posted here:https://tworoads.shutterfly.com/pictures/40#44

Miles: 365
Total Time: 14.58
Total On Bikes: 6:26
Total Miles For Trip so far: 2743

The first order of business today was to reschedule the purchase/installation of a new rear tire for Vince's bike to tomorrow. However, Vince learned that a reschedule was not possible -- prompting him to decide to forgo replacing the tire at all until getting home.

Thereafter, our lack of detailed maps/atlases for Montana caused us to rely on the official state map and other regional maps which contained insufficient detail to assess the "sportiness" of our selected routes of travel. So, today ended up being lots of flat land straight driving -- and with Montana's top speed limit of 75 mph, the result was lots of droning! Memories of the Beartooth of yesterday left us feeling like the droning was "worth it," but it also gave plenty of opportunity to understand why Montana is known as the "Big Sky" state -- there is plenty of sky to see when you are on straight, flat roads.

During the droning along -- I did begin to think about our planned destination -- Missoula and the fact that I had a 2nd cousin, Teri, living there (our grandfathers were brothers). I don't remember seeing Teri since we were kids playing together at family reunions -- but had occassion to have some infrequent email correspondence with her over the years about some property our great grandparents had homesteaded in California. I had emailed her about this planned motorcycle trip through Missoula and she had been welcoming of a visit -- even a place to stay -- but I was apprehensive about actually taking her up on her offer thinking that perhaps just a brief stop might be more appropriate considering how little I knew about her/her family. All day I procrastinated (something I am really good at) calling about our expected arrival in Missoula -- my way of not having to think about whether we should actually take her up on her offer of a place to stay. Upon arrival in Missoula -- I finally forced myself to do my usual "what's the worst that can happen" type decision making -- and made the call to Teri and asked about a place to stay. Again she was welcoming.

The evening with Teri, her daughter Sharon and her daughter's husband Chris couldn't have been more wonderful -- they warmly welcomed us into their beautiful home -- and we immediately found plenty of common ground -- such that the few hours together passed way too quickly. It turned out that Chris is also a motorcycle rider (and about Vince's age) and both he and Sharon are VERY familiar with the backroads of Montana. In short order -- and with the Montana maps spread between us -- we quickly learned which roads we should have taken in Montana -- and which roads we need to come back and enjoy. In addition, Sharon has been very involved in family tree research, another topic of great interest to me. All in all, a very fun evening -- and wonderful accommodations for the night. I went to sleep thinking how silly my apprehensions about stopping now seemed -- and how quickly family connections can be reestablished! I do hope to be returning the hospitality sometime soon -- and Vince and I are already talking about when we might be able to return and ride the Montana roads they marked out for us -- and with any luck, perhaps Chris will ride with us!